Is the word "NEVER" a "curse" word?

I know that good or bad, nothing is impossible!

Some people believe that nothing good can happen. Most likely with that attitude, it will not. I'm a hopeless optimistic. I would like to see the glass as being half full vs. half empty. I'd like to think I can be all and do all in every situation. I usually DO find a way when I want something bad enough, but is will power enough though? I really don't think that it is. I believe it takes a supernatural strength beyond ourselves in order to "do" and in a lot of cases "not do" in our lives.

I believe that we live our lives and we'd like to believe that we can do it all ourselves with no help from anyone or anything. We think we are invincible at times. We are only if we have the Lord by our sides. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Christ is the supernatural strength I am talking about. He was not 100% flesh. When He tells me, "I'll NEVER leave you nor forsake you," I know this it to be true. I feel it with everything within me. We however are flesh and blood and are only strongest when we are close to Him. When He says He'll never leave us, I know it's true but can we truly trust the word of men when they tell us they will never do something? Can we trust ourselves? Let's look at this a minute.

Question: Have you ever said you'll NEVER do something and than find out later that you end up doing the very thing you were adamant you'd never do? I know I have! It seems like without fail, every time I have ever said, "I'll NEVER ....." than I find myself compromising in that area. This isn't confined to doing bad things. It can be something as simple as moving to a city we do not want to live in, taking a job we didn't want to take, going to a restaurant we hate, dating a certain type of person we know is not good for us, or even accepting treatment from someone that you'd normally forbid, all in the name of "love" or "family."

I believe each of us are weak and ARE all subject to being tempted. I'm first to raise my hand and say that I am. Pride comes before a fall. When we are puffed up enough to say we will NEVER do something, I think this attitude and declaration will be followed by a test to prove to ourselves just how strong we are. More often than not, we will fail this test. That's actually a good thing because we can learn that we aren't strong enough to do it alone. We need help!

When we say these words, I don't think we say it with any bad thoughts or intentions in mind. I think we declare something that we couldn't possibly know. Lack of wisdom I guess you could say. We say the things we hope to be true of us.

If it weren't for the grace of God, we'd all be in a destitute state. It is only by His power that I have my right mind, that I can walk and talk. It's not but by the grace of God that I have good health or my husband had a job to provide for us. There are so many things beyond our control and none of us know what we will or will not do when faced with any situation. "Consider yourself least ye also be tempted." If we are not walking close to the Lord, we are likely to fall every time.

I guess it all goes back to whether we trust in ourselves more than God. Do we really believe that we know more than he does? Do we see all and know what's around every bend in the road? Can you believe I woke up with this on my mind this morning and felt I should write this today? I didn't know what to say and it's literally taken me all day to write it. I just hope what I'm trying to say comes through.

Speaking for myself, I can honestly say that I'm not above doing anything. I know that I can be tempted. I know that I can fall. I know that I can do things that I never thought possible if I'm not close to the Lord. Things I said I'd NEVER do. Lord have mercy on me! I pray that we watch what we say.. It's not about using the word "never." It's about trusting ourselves more than we trust God. If we are not walking close to God, we are apt to fail on every promise we tell ourselves.

This blog is not to bash anyone or puff anyone up. I hope you read it with the heart it is written with. It is just to make you think. I'd like to find out if you feel the same way about it and any situations in which you said you'd never do something and than found yourself doing it later on. Big or small, feel free to share it. It may help someone else that reads this blog. Feel free to share this if you feel someone else needs to hear it.

I thought I'd share a song I like..

Thanks for reading!  Enjoy! ♥

14th Wedding Anniversary

Last Wednesday, March 7th, my husband and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. Since he's been working 6/12's that leaves us Sunday to celebrate! :)

Yesterday we headed out for the day and went to the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, MS where we were able to visit the USS Cairo Gunboat and Museum, pictured to the right. Learn about it's history here.
This is not really what you'd consider an anniversary destination, but we want to learn and teach the children about historical places while we're over here. It was nice though because we were able to spend the day together. :)

The children were able to hear about some of the history of the civil war and which states were on the Union/Federal side of the war and which ones were on the side of the Confederacy.

When you enter the park, you drive along the path from marker, to plaque, to statue, to memorial, reading about men who fought on this battlefield. You see memorial after memorial from each state honoring those lost in battle. On the East side of the park were the Union memorials. Some of them were quite impressive. True monuments indeed! On the West side of the park, you ride along the Confederacy side and it was quite saddening to see the smaller memorials for those that paid the ultimate price in the war. This is Alabama's Memorial. They have the rest of the memorials on that same website if you're interested in looking around and learning more.

The most impressive parts of the park was the Cairo Gunboat, the Vicksburg National Cemetery, and the point overlooking the "once" Mississippi River. Since the war, the river changed course, and what was once the Mississippi River here, is now part of the Yazoo River.

Unfortunately, I had a dead camera when we went yesterday, so I have no personal pictures and my daughter's pictures aren't what I want to post. For the $8 vehicle admission into the park, you have a week access to the park, so I'm thinking of going back one day this week while hubby's working to get some to share with y'all! :)

After we left there, we decided to go out to eat. We choose Shoney's in Vicksburg because it's like the only AMERICAN buffet in the whole city. lol Even after a couple of guys at hubby's work said not to go there, we had to go see this "bad" service for ourselves. lol We went in and ordered the buffet. Hubby said the only thing decent to eat were the ribs. After filling up on ribs, than he says they weren't that good after all. lol I thought they were alright.. I tried their macaroni and it was COLD. Not just warm, but freezing cold, like it had never been cooked. The piece of fried chicken I got had blood in the middle. Can you believe that we actually paid the $50 bill? This was the cost of the meal plus a tip. I don't like to complain to the people. I just pay them back by NEVER entering their establishment again, and doing what I'm doing here, warning everyone not to go there! If it's good, I'll tell you, if it's bad, I'll tell you that too. This was very bad! I asked hubby if he thought ordering from the menu could have been better and he said, "If they couldn't get the buffet right, do you really think they can get a special order right?" After he said that, I saw a customer give a waitress a plate back telling them their steak was overcooked.. lol Well I guess he was right!

We than came home to relax and watched Shawshank Redemption that we have on DVD. All in all it was a good day. I look forward to what the next 14 years of marriage has in store for my husband and myself! :)

Update: I went today with the children and took pictures. Here is the link to my personal facebook album of Vicksburg National Military Park if you'd like to take a look. :)

Where's my refund?

This is for all of us that have yet to file our 2011 federal income tax returns yet. I thought I'd post this payout schedule so you could see when to expect your refund based on the day you file. Share this with your friends! I think it's a motivation to get those income tax returns filed! :) lol